Knowledge rationales in human geography: Economic, policy, empowerment, and methodological

ABSTRACT

The article presents a systematic review of 152 articles in which the concept of knowledge is applied and that are published in international human geography journals. As the importance of knowledge in society is increasing, especially economic geography has taken up the task of reviewing the concept or role of knowledge in geography. However, there is a need for a more nuanced understanding of knowledge in economic geography, drawing more broadly on human geographical research. The authors analyse how the concept of knowledge is understood and applied in contemporary human geography. Their results demonstrate four knowledge rationales: economic, policy, empowerment, and methodological. Each rationale and their combinations display a particular role and purpose for knowledge, as well as a distinct approach to space. Separately, each rationale provides several insights into a more nuanced understanding of specific aspects of knowledge. When combined, the four rationales offer a holistic overview of the field. The authors conclude that the empowerment rationale offers novel methodological choices towards a more nuanced understanding of knowledge in economic geography.

KEYWORDS:

• human geography
• knowledge
• rationale
• space

Acknowledgements

The study was funded by the Academy of Finland projects International Knowledge Creation in Space and Time (266212) and Innovation-Driven Cluster Transformation (138835). We thank Päivi Oinas and the anonymous referees for providing valuable feedback.